The Haunting of Deck Twelve (2)

 DVD, Voyager S6 (The Haunting of Deck Twelve) (2)

The monster under the bed is... just trying to get home. A most Trekky story and one that felt a lot like an early season's episode for its nice character work, the emphasis on those people that get short shrift, or seem to (Neelix, Tuvok, Kim), to the extent that I'm wondering if my impression of the series' latter seasons was wrong? But then I think of poor old Torres and she's still pretty much sidelined, definitely the character to have missed out the most. But I will say that Seven and the Doctor aren't at the forefront, and Janeway, though integral in saving her ship, as the Captain should be, is the character in Neelix' story, so even though she gets a lot of the meat it's from his perspective. The only glaring omission is Naomi, whom I was surprised wasn't among Neelix' 'campfire' ghost story in the Cargo Bay. In practical terms it makes sense that it would be limited to the Borg children (if you can include Icheb in that category being obviously much older, basically a young adult!), since the narrative device is that they're woken in the middle of the night to frightening occurrences on Voyager. And when it's all over they go back to being 'tucked up' in their alcoves as Neelix so comfortingly puts it. In that regard I can see why bringing Naomi in wouldn't be quite so tidy, but if they wanted to include her they could easily have sacrificed a bit of neatness to explain why she would be brought to the Cargo Bay.

I think the main reason she wasn't included was because she knows Neelix a lot better than the Borg gang do, she knows his ways and tricks, but also that without her they're allowed to be themselves in all their blunt, atmosphere-dissipating, unimpressed alienness, and have to be won over by an experienced old storyteller. Before too long he has them eating out of his hand (not literally - snacks are irrelevant!), drawing them in, getting past their greater technical knowledge and nitpicking, or questions about lifeform designations which all serve to put a damper on his story, to suddenly go off about food at an exciting moment in the story so they demand he continue. It was a joy to see Neelix flourishing so much in his role as babysitter, something he's long excelled at. Not only that, he's made a big part of the events he recounts because naturally he has plenty to say about his own experiences during the creepy events. I've said it many times, but whenever a story includes creeping around darkened sets it's an immediate draw to me. Maybe it's because Trek ships are always so bright and inviting that when the lights go down they become suddenly menacing, hiding depths we can only imagine, shadows all around, and this episode was especially well directed. I mean that in regard to the whole production, not just the creeping through decks or crawling along Jefferies Tubes (which made me think of 'Civil Defence' from 'DS9' - the ship/station itself turning on its crew).

We get numerous dramatically different shots, whether that be the early view from the Replicator in Janeway's Ready Room, like a precursor to the ship taking on a life of its own, to shots of the inside of a Turbolift shaft which I'm not sure we'd ever seen before on this series (mercifully long before modern Trek made them seem like rollercoasters in vast empty space!), when Chakotay is almost killed - cleverly they sell what happens without ever having to show the First Officer pinioned to the roof of the Turbolift, we simply see him trapped in the lift, the external view as it plummets, and cut to Neelix to give the details verbally. We never usually see people peer through the Mess Hall doors' windows, either, as Neelix does here. But it's the lighting late in the episode that really stands out, the picture actually disappearing into pitch darkness between the eerie pulses of the Red Alert lights as the only illumination. The camera also moved dynamically a few times, like when Janeway was in Engineering striding around, or leaving. Throughout there's a flair to the direction which ably assists in telling such a different story. It's not that we haven't encountered non-corporeal life before, we have many times, but as I always say, it's not what you do, it's how you do it - in the wrong hands it could easily have been a dull, seen-it-all-before plod-factory product, but by emphasising certain things, framing it as a flashback and giving us a device to keep the audience in the dark as fellow listeners to Neelix' story, it pumps new life into an old Trek story.

Not to moan about 'Enterprise' (it had some good creepy episodes), but I think of 'Vox Sola' as the kind of story in this vein that didn't work (sorry Roxann Dawson - she was the Director). The concept of picking up an unwanted lifeform that then causes havoc can be traced back to plenty of other Treks (episodes such as 'The Child' and 'Q-Less' come to mind, and I feel even 'Voyager' had done this story before - maybe something like 'The Cloud'?), but they found a new spin on it. Much of the episode I felt was good, but not more than that, but it took off for me near the end when the supremely unsettling idea of the ship's computer talking directly to its Captain was introduced. For one thing I just love hearing Majel Barrett's voice, dripping with Trek history right back to the very first production (something I so miss from the modern era, she tied all Trek together back then), and it's always so easy to forget her place as Queen of All Trek when we're so used to hearing the occasional response from the computer. Here she gets to do more than mere dispassionate interjections, yet fascinatingly, though she has a lot more to say as the computer, it's all done in the same style. That makes its determination to wipe out Voyager's crew all the more horrifying as it's all done in such a matter-of-fact way. I suppose the lifeform wasn't really intent on executing the crew as it could easily have done that rather than warn them to abandon ship, but it was putting pressure on Janeway to get it back to its home. Interesting that it could control certain systems, such as forcefields, but couldn't drive the ship.

That was something I loved about it: they have this goal in common with it, no matter how alien it is, it wants to get home. Earlier, when Neelix is getting jumpy and encounters Tuvok wearing breathing apparatus (something that only added to the general ghostliness of appearances and further unsettled because we never see them having to do that - wonder why they didn't break out the EV suits? Probably as the story called for crawling about the bowels of the ship so it wouldn't have been practical), the Vulcan naturally has a calming effect in his sure, steady way, but also in the failure to jump to conclusions about the lifeform's hostility: he says it's intentions aren't clear. Again, it's a very Trekky attitude to take, that although on the surface it appears we may be under attack, we don't immediately make that assumption. I liked the characterisations, too, that Tuvok remains so Vulcan under pressure, even when he's been zapped he has the presence of mind to order Neelix to safety (even if the Talaxian disobeys and takes him along). Neelix draws on a happy memory to try and keep calm and that made sense, too: for his birthday he would have a meal made for him by the crew since he's the one that takes care of food for them the rest of the time. I'm not quite sure how comfortable it would be to have so many people all crowded around him as he tucks in, it would seem to make more sense (and give a boost to morale, taking on another of Neelix's roles), if the Captain and one or two others cooked, and everyone who was there were seated enjoying the meal as well, but this was a memory rather than the strict playback of an event, as evidenced by Neelix imagining the gas creature appearing instead of his meal!

Even Tom Paris' predilection for old technology is brought back when the ship's navigation becomes erratic and he makes the point that we rely too much on 24th Century technology - give him a sextant and chart and he could do it that way, a sentiment that's as pertinent now, if not more so than it was then, regarding our reliance on technology over skill and individual ability. Kim shows how much he's grown up by this point when he encounters Tal Celes in the corridor, so frightened, while he takes charge - it was nice to bring her back from 'Good Shepherd,' but strange they'd do that for just this one appearance - if they did it more often than not when there was a small speaking role it would give the ship's crew a greater sense of personhood when so often it's done with extras or a minor guest actor of the week. It was especially enjoyable to see Seven jumping to conclusions about what Tal had done, showing that for all her knowledge, much like the Borg children, she can make errors of judgement, she's not a superhero (as she'd be portrayed now - oh, in fact she has been portrayed now!). As a Gel Pack fan I loved seeing the squidgy blighters again, too! Disappointing that when Chakotay admitted he had conversations with his Maquis ship in the same way Janeway does with Voyager, he didn't mention the name of it (it's the Valjean, apparently, no thanks to dialogue - it would be on a readout in next season's 'Repression'). And it's nice to know that Janeway has a Coffee Cup Relief Officer on the Bridge ready to spring into action and take the empty mug off her hands whenever she strides in!

I can't help feeling this was one of those budget-savers as the penultimate episode of the season, making space for the big bad Borg bash that would finish out the year: it all takes place on Voyager's standing sets, there are only recurring guest stars rather than anyone new, and they saved money on electricity by not even having the lights on most of the time! All of that doesn't matter when an episode makes the most of its characters, that's what counts, and Janeway was at her heroic Captain best, using her last breaths to argue with the entity that had taken over the ship and steadfastly refusing to give in. Everything about this episode's style is unique - the way they're rolling up their sleeves in the best Chief O'Brien way (though not quite as high, we don't want to get to absolute O'Brien level, the series isn't ready for that!), the breathing masks, the novel directing, the lighting, the narrative device... I don't love it as I did when I first saw it, but I like it a little bit more than when I first reviewed it fifteen years ago. Maybe I've learned to appreciate the artistry of crafting tension and mood without the use of gore and violence after all that's been done with modern Trek. And for its continuing to subvert impressions of the series losing touch with most of its cast in these later episodes - for that I applaud it. But one last thing: what did Chakotay do when Janeway was shut out from getting to their escape pod? Did he turn round and try to open the door to find out what happened to her, or did he think he'd been tricked by his Captain once again and she was determined to go down with her ship?

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